Pagliacci

The composer Ruggero Leoncavallo

Giovanni Martinelli, like Canio.

Second act

Pagliacci (original title in Italian; in Spanish, Clowns) is a drama in two acts with a prologue. The music and the libretto in Italian belong to the composer Ruggero Leoncavallo, and the work relates the tragedy of a clown and the infidelity of his wife in a theatrical company of the commedia dell'arte.

The choir performs twice. At the beginning of the play and at the beginning of act number 2.

History

Composition

Around 1890, when Mascagni premiered Cavalleria rusticana, Leoncavallo was a little-known composer. After seeing his success, he decided to write a similar opera. It was to be in one act and composed in verista style. He was sued for plagiarism of the libretto by Catulle Mendès, whose 1887 play La Femme de Tabarin shares many themes with Pagliacci, mainly the "play within the play& #3. 4; and the clown who murders his wife. Leoncavallo's defense was that the plot of the opera is based on a true story that he had seen as a child. He claimed that a servant had taken him to a performance of the commedia dell'arte in which the events of the opera had actually occurred. He also said that his father, who was a judge, had conducted the criminal investigation, and that he had documents to support these allegations, but none of this evidence ever turned up. Today most critics agree that the libretto was truly inspired by Mendès's play since Leoncavallo was living in Paris at the time of its premiere, and it is likely that he saw the play.

Representations

It premiered on May 21, 1892 at the Teatro dal Verme in Milan, directed by Arturo Toscanini with Adelina Stehle as Nedda, Fiorello Giraud as Canio, Victor Maurel as Tonio and Mario Ancona as Silvio. Pagliacci was an instant hit and remains popular today. It contains one of the most famous and popular opera arias, "Recite!... Vesti la giubba" (literally, Perform!... Put on your costumes).

The UK premiere took place at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden in London on May 19, 1893. The US premiere took place a month later in Covent Garden at the Grand Opera House in New York on June 15, while the Metropolitan Opera performed the work for the first time on December 11 of the same year (together with Orpheus and Eurydice), Nedda sung by Nellie Melba. The Met paired it with Cavalleria rusticana for the first time eleven days later on December 22. Since 1893 it has performed there 712 times (the most recent in April 2009), and since 1944, exclusively with Cavalleria. At the Teatro Colón (Buenos Aires) it premiered in the inaugural season of 1908 with Amedeo Bassi and Titta Ruffo repeating themselves in eighteen seasons: 1909, 1910, 1915, 1916 and 1917 (both with Enrico Caruso) and 1918-1926 with Aureliano Pertile, 1928, 1929, 1931, 1932, 1943, 1957, 1980, 1980, 1992 and 2000.

Pagliacci remains one of the most popular operas; in the Operabase statistics it appears no.

Since 1893, it has performed in a double bill with Mascagni's Cavalleria Rusticana, a couple that is commonly known colloquially as "Cav and Pag". Both are the most representative operas of the style called verista. Although this pairing has been the norm in most places, some theaters have been a latecomer to this custom. For example, the Mikhailovsky Theater in Saint Petersburg presented the double bill for the first time only in February 2009.

His aria for tenor, "Vesti la giubba", has become emblematic for this type of lyrical singer from Enrico Caruso, Miguel Fleta, Giovanni Martinelli, Beniamino Gigli, Mario del Mónaco, Jussi Björling to Giuseppe Di Stefano, Jon Vickers, Carlo Bergonzi, Plácido Domingo, Luciano Pavarotti, José Cura and Roberto Alagna.

Characters

Plot

Foreword

During the overture, the curtain rises. From behind a second curtain, Tonio, dressed as his character from the comedy of art Taddeo, addresses the audience. ("Si può?... Si può?... Signore! Signori!... Un nido di memorie.") Reminds the audience that actors have feelings too, and that this performance is about real human beings.

Place: a village of Calabria, near Montalto, in the Feast of the Assumption.

Time: between 1865 and 1870.

Act I

At three in the afternoon, a traveling group of clowns arrives in a town, on the festivity of the Virgin of August, to perform a play. The company, led by Canio, is also made up of his wife Nedda, the hunchback Tonio, and Beppe. The reception is welcoming for the clowns, who thank them and announce to the people that that night there will be a great show that no one should miss. Canio describes the representation of the night: the problems of Pagliaccio. He says the play will start at "ventitre ore"; (twenty-three hours). This is an agricultural method of counting time, and it means that the play will begin one hour before sunset. When Nedda gets down from the wagon, Tonio tries to help her but Canio gives him a little bump and helps her down himself. The villagers suggest drinking at the tavern. Canio and Beppe agree, but Tonio stays behind. Canio's jealousy resurfaces when a young man insinuates, without bad intentions, that Tonio, who had rejected the invitation to have a drink with his companions, was staying to woo Nedda. Canio warns everyone that while on stage he can play the silly husband the play demands, in real life he will not tolerate other men trying to seduce his wife Nedda. Surprised, a villager asks if Canio really suspects her. He says no, and kisses his wife sweetly on the forehead. As the church bells ring for vespers, he and Beppe head off to the tavern.

When Nedda, who is cheating on Canio, is left alone, she begins to think and worry about the jealous attitude shown by Canio, because she is secretly in love with another, but the song of the bird comforts her. That love is what makes him change her speech to make it happier. Tonio returns and confesses his love for her, but she laughs. Angered, Tonio grabs Nedda, but she grabs a whip and throws him out. Silvio, who is Nedda's lover, comes from the tavern, where he has left Canio and Beppe drinking. He asks Nedda to elope with him after the performance, and although she is afraid, she agrees. Tonio, who has been eavesdropping, leaves to inform Canio so that he can catch Silvio and Nedda together. Canio and Tonio return, and as Silvio escapes, Nedda calls out to him, "I will always be yours!"

	Vesti La Giubba Interpreted by Enrico Caruso, recorded on March 17, 1907 No Pagliaccio non son Interpreted by Enrico Caruso
Problems when playing this file?

Enrico Caruso as Canio in PagliacciOne of his most significant roles.

Canio chases Silvio but doesn't catch him and doesn't see his face. He demands that Nedda tell him the name of her lover, but she refuses. He threatens her with a knife, but Beppe disarms him. Beppe insists that they prepare for the performance. Tonio tells Canio that his lover will surely betray himself in the play. Canio is left alone to dress, make up, and prepare to laugh (Vesti la giubba).

Intermediate

The intermission serves to prepare us for the play that the clown company is going to carry out. In this Commedia dell'Arte Canio is Pagliaccio, Nedda is Colombina, Tonio is Tadeo and finally Beppe is Harlequin.

Act II

The act begins with the chorus of villagers sitting down to watch the play. Among them is Silvio, who reminds Nedda that he will wait for her at the end of the play. Nedda, dressed as Colombina, collects the money. She whispers a warning to Silvio, and the crowd screams as the play begins.

Colombina's husband, Pagliaccio, is gone until morning, and Taddeo is at the market. Eagerly awaiting her lover Her Harlequin, Colombina strolls into a small room while his voice pleads for her love, serenading her from below her window. The arrival of Taddeo, a jester in love with Colombina, returns to the first act regarding the meeting of Tonio and Nedda. Taddeo confesses her love for him, but she makes fun of him. Harlequin goes up and reaches the window of the room where Colombina and Taddeo are, expelling the latter to the laughter of the public.

The little love-jocular duo culminates with the same words that Nedda said to Silvio, which speeds up Canio's fury. Harlequin and Colombina have dinner, and he gives her a sleeping potion that she should use later, when her husband returns, to drug him and run away with her lover. Tadeo enters, warning that Pagliaccio suspects his wife and is going to return soon. As Harlequin escapes through the window, Colombina tells him "I will always be yours!".

When Canio enters playing Pagliaccio, he hears Nedda and exclaims "In the name of God! Those very words!" He tries to continue the play but loses control and slips out of his role. He shows a ruthless attitude towards Nedda, demanding that she reveal the name of her lover. Nedda tries to stay in her role as Colombina and continue with the play, calling Canio by her character's name, "Pagliaccio"; to remind you of the presence of the public. But the attempt is unsuccessful since Canio is already full of anger. He replies with his arietta: & # 34; No! Pagliaccio are not!" (& # 34; No! I'm not Pagliaccio! & # 34;) and affirms that if his face is pale, it is not due to makeup but to the shame that she has brought him. The audience, impressed by this realistic performance, cheers. Nedda, trying again to continue the comedy, admits that she has been visited by the very innocent Harlequin. Canio, furious and forgetting the play, demands to know the name of his lover. Nedda swears that she will never tell him.

Silvio was the only one among the audience who understood that the scene was not fictional and began to worry about Nedda who, despite confessing their romance, refused to reveal the name of her lover and tried to flee to the being threatened by Canio. She tries to make her way onto the stage. Canio, picking up a knife from the table, stabs Nedda. As she dies, she screams: "Help, Silvio!". Canio then also stabs Silvio and with a terrible and ironic "La commedia è finita" (The comedy is over) concludes the opera while the curtain goes down hiding the inert bodies of the two lovers. Originally, Tonio had this final line, "La commedia è finita!" but it has traditionally been given to Canio. Leoncavallo himself approved this substitution.^{[citation needed]}

Famous excerpts

• "Yes?", Prologue (Tonio)
• "It's qua, ritornano!", choir (Act I).
• "Qual fiamma avea nel guardo", aria de Nedda.
• "Vesti la giubba" (often called Ridi, pagliaccio- Aria de Canio.
• "Canzone di Arlecchino", Beppe (Act II).
• "No, pagliaccio non son", Canio romanza and final.

Orchestration

The orchestra consists of 2 flutes, 1 piccolo, 1 oboe, 1 English horn, 2 clarinets, 1 bass clarinet, 3 bassoons, 4 horns, 3 trumpets, 3 trombones, 1 tuba, 2 harps, timpani, tubular bells, percussion (triangle, cymbals, bass drum, glockenspiel) and strings. In addition, there is a violin, oboe, trumpet and bass drum on stage. Also included in the final pages of the score is a part in the percussion section marked "T.T." (surprisingly not assigned to the instrumentation page at the beginning) leading to the assumption that it is actually a tom-tom (in part because Mascagni used one, albeit to much greater effect, in the final moments of Cavalleria rusticana). He lands three punches right after Tonio/Canio announces that 'The comedy is over'.

Discography

In 1907, Pagliacci became the first complete opera to be recorded. with Puerto Rican tenor Antonio Paoli as Canio and under Leoncavallo's personal supervision. In 1931, it became the first complete opera shot with sound, in what is now an obscure version starring tenor Fernando Bertini, in his only film, as Canio, and the San Carlos Opera Company.

The opera has been recorded several times, especially during and after the 1940s; according to one source, there are 137 extant recordings. The following discography selection is made including those mentioned in The Ideal Opera Nightclub, and The New Penguin Guide to Compact Discs and Cassettes .

It was made into a movie in 1948, in a film with Gina Lollobrigida and Tito Gobbi.

Pop Culture

The most popular excerpt from this lyrical piece is "Vesti la giubba" (Canio's aria).

- In the Watchmen comic written by Alan Moore (specifically in the last pages of the first volume), the character of Rorschach tells a joke about the clown Pagliacci: "A man goes to the doctor. He tells her that he is depressed. He tells her that life seems harsh and cruel to him. He says that he feels very alone in this world full of threats where what awaits us is vague and uncertain. The doctor answers him; "The treatment is simple, the great Pagliacci clown is in town tonight, go see him, that will cheer him up." The man bursts into tears and says “But, doctor… I am Pagliacci”. Good joke, everyone laughs, curtain." becoming one of the most iconic scenes in the comic, despite not being based on the play, but on a poem by Juan de Dios Peza called "Laugh Crying"

- In 1950, bandleader Spike Jones - along with his band, the "City Slickers" - recorded a parody song called "Pal-Yat-Chee", which makes comic reference to Canio's aria, and features an interpretation by the American duo Homer & Jethro (famous between the years '40, 50 and '60 of the last century for their country songs with satirical lyrics). In the song, the duo recounts that, on their way through the city, they came across a performance by "Pagliacci", which -according to the satirical lyrics- they thought was a western show. This satirical song is found on Spike Jones' album "Murdering the Classics" ("Asesinando los clásicos", in which they make satirical and crazy arrangements of emblematic pieces of learned music). From Canio's original aria, the verse "Ridi, pagliaccio... sul tuo amore infranto" (the most famous of the aria), which is performed twice within the parody song.

- In the animated series Hey Arnold! (specifically, in the chapter "What's Opera, Arnold?"), Harold expresses his distaste for the genre lyrical, using Pagliacci as a reference and saying "Look at me, I'm a crying clown!", to later appear characterized as Canio in a passage from Arnold's dream, interpreting his most famous verse.

-In the animated series The Simpsons (during the chapter "The Italian Bob"), supporting actor Bob characterizes Canio in the Roman coliseum, singing a fragment of & #34;Vesti la giubba"; exactly, the verse "Ridi, pagliaccio... Sul tuo amore infranto", and ends with another fragment from the end of the work, "La commedia è finita".

-The animated short spin-off of the aforementioned series uses that same piece instrumentally when Maggie sees that the butterfly was finally squashed by baby Gerald, to which she does a similar pantomime of mourning for said event.

- Artwork that obsesses Crazy Joe Davola in the ninth episode of the fourth season of the series Seinfeld.

- The song "It'a hard life#34;, from 1984, by the British group Queen, begins with a fragment of the aria "Vesti la giubba" with modifications to your letter.

-During the video of the Spanish group Mago de Oz, a fragment of "Vesti la giubba" is heard at the beginning.

-In the video game GTA Liberty City Stories, the most popular excerpt of this lyrical piece is regularly rotated on the classical music radio station Double Clef FM: "Vesti la giubba" (Canio's aria).

- The Coca-Cola company made a commercial where the clown Canio is interpreting "Vesti la giubba" and a little boy who is on stage, but offstage he feels the pain of the clown who is about to cry, so the only thing he has on hand to get closer to the clown so that he stops crying is a Coca-Cola that he He approaches the clown in the middle of the play, and the audience is moved by such an act, and the clown takes the soda and they leave the stage together.

- The song "A Metaphor for the Dead N#34; by the British extreme metal band Anaal Nathrakh included on the album Vanitas is inspired by this work.

- The Argentine musician Bruno Dacarai is based on the character for his first album.

External Links

Video of commercial on YouTube